


The Underworld

by TheMadPrinceIsDead



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Demons, Derogatory Language, Devil!Michael, Explicit Language, Folklore, M/M, Minotaur!Geoff, Monsters, NSFW, Shadow Hopper!Gavin, Vampires, Werewolf!Jack, Witch!Lindsay, blood warning, cult warning, demons/monsters, m/m - Freeform, monster au, vampire!Ray, vampire!Ryan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 09:45:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2577041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMadPrinceIsDead/pseuds/TheMadPrinceIsDead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They lived in a world where Men and Monsters lived in peace. It wasn't unheard of for Vampire and Human to fall in love, nor any creature for that fact. Yet what are they to do when a cult of demons and the possessed following the orders of the long lost tyranny of the Underworld wreaks havoc upon the Upperworld? </p><p>Michael's gone missing. Ray's fallen victim to the cult's plot to rid the world of humans. Can the crew stop this cult before they ruin the world they've grown so accustom too?</p><p>(A late Halloween fic about the Achievement Hunter Crew.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note:  
> Never drink and edit kids, it makes for terrible spelling and grammar mistakes.

“That’s really gross.”

A soft hum echoed from Ryan as he looked over his shoulder at the voice. Its tone muffled and twisted as its owner watched Ryan from the opposite side of the kitchen bar. “You don’t have to watch me do the dishes Ray,” Ryan stated with a shrug.

“Naw,” Was the reply. The dark haired lad rested his chin against his folded arms that rested upon the counter top. “It’s just kind of gross watching blood go down the sink, like a weird horror movie or something.”

Ryan scoffed, putting the last of his glasses in the dishwasher and lifting the door shut with his foot. “You’re hanging out with a vampire, it’s pretty much a horror movie from the start,” he rolled his eyes with a soft smile. He wandered over to the opposite side of the counter, leaning his elbows against its marble surface as he watched the younger. “Lucky for you I don’t murder for food, I get donor’s blood.”

The human’s head lifted with interest. His brows rose, yet eyes relaxed as he fought a smirk. “Did you use to hunt?” His tone was good humored and filled with true curiosity. He only laughed when Ryan tossed his hands up in the air and wandered away from him.

“I’m not talking about that,” He muttered. “I thought you were supposed make an achievement guide in Slender tonight?” The vampire attempted to change the subject, wandering into the living room.

It’s been a few months like this, Ryan slowly building a relationship with Ray. More often than not the young man spent his nights accompanied with Ryan, playing a little game of house as best as a vampire and a human could. The only struggle they held was their diet, where Ryan could only consume human blood and organs, and Ray consumed…Well, food. Yet Ray astonished Ryan every day, where instead of protesting against the vampire's dietary needs, he simply grew curious about them and pressed question after question about vampires and creatures similar to them.

Although Ray’s questions were cute, and at times very concise and so perplexed that even Ryan didn’t know the answer, he was cautious in answering them. Though they lived in a world were demons and humans lived in something similar to harmony, discussions such as _What’s your favorite organs to consume_ and  _What’s your favorite blood type_ didn’t seem appropriate. Demons who lived on this upper part of the world ate as appropriate, consuming only what was giving willingly through donation or governmental standards. If a demon desired to consume illegally, they would resided in the underworld. That went for all creatures who weren’t human or cannibal.

“No, that’s you,” Ray called back, following the taller with a can of soda in hand. Ryan sighed, _right._ He retrieved his laptop and hopped onto the couch. Within moments there was a warm body pressed against him, Ray’s arms wrapped around the crook of Ryan's elbow as he burrowed into his side. His cheek rubbed into Ryan’s shoulder as he watched the title screen load on the computer screen. “Does this game scare you?”

“No,” was the short answer, it came out in a breath as looked at the smaller. “It scares Geoff shitless though. Sometimes the sounds will catch me off guard,” He elaborated, his lips pursed in thought. The vampire sat silently in thought, yet shrugged them away and clicked to start a new game. The beginning of the game was rather boring he thought. Simply walking in the woods as the sky slowly fell into darkness the closer the character approached a house. After a little wandering, and unlocking a room, and listening to the soft scream of a woman in a far off and distant virtual world, the game had official started.

_Bored already_. Ryan slouched slightly, dully clicking the mouse pad and wandering the ominous woods. The feeling of stubble facial hair rubbed against his neck caught him off guard. Ryan’s breath hitched out of surprised as a nose now nuzzling the crook of his neck. He chuckled. “Really now? The game wasn’t scary enough,” he teased.

A coy smirk lifted the corner of Ray’s lips as he looked up at the pale man. “Thought I’d make it more interesting.” Oh, he’d make it interesting, Ryan was sure. Ryan rose a brow at the other, waiting for him to continue. Ray opened his mouth, yet was silenced by the sound of Ryan’s phone.

Wasn’t it a little late for phone calls? Ryan’s attention left Ray for a moment as he fished his cell from his pocket. No one called after ten, not unless it was important. “Hello?” He answered immediately.

“Hey Rye,” It was Gavin.

Wait. It was _Gavin_. The man who never called, nor texted, but did in fact own Ryan’s phone number. How bizarre, he thought. This must have been important. Or he fried is computer, which after a very short debate with himself, Ryan determined that was more or less important. “What’s up?” He asked shortly, his body turned back to Ray who busied himself with Ryan’s free hand. The tanner man appeared to be comparing their hands. Ray at first holding Ryan's palm gingerly in both of his, then laced their fingers together. _You’re very distracting,_ Ryan thought with a smirk.

“Have you heard from Michael, Rye?” Was the slow and quiet reply.

“No, I barely ever hear from him outside of work. Why?” Really, barely anyone texted him except for the off handed text from Geoff and Jack every now and then. Or unless some piece of technology needed maintenance. Ray was usually glued somewhere by his side after work hours and had little need to communicate with Ryan by phone.

He could hear Garvin bristling on the other side of the line. “Nothing.” That’s a lie. There was definitely something.

“Weren’t you two meeting up tonight?” He remembered hearing something about going out for drinks at a pub after work. What did they get into?

“Well—“

That was never a good sign. “Where’s Michael? Have you tried Geoff?” They text or tweet or whatever, right?

“I’m at Geoff’s!” The English man squeaked with frustration. “We were together, now he’s missing! I thought he’d end up at your place or somethin’ yeah?”

_Yeah,_ highly unlikely thought process. Ryan sighed, and rotated his hand in Ray’s to bring the back of the olive skinned hand to the vampire's chilled lips. He sighed as he felt the comfort of his boyfriend’s pulse against his skin. “I’m sure everything is fine. He probably went home. You’re probably drunk. Go to his house and check on him tomorrow, alright?”

There was a sigh from Gavin, clearly aggravated that there wasn’t a clear answer to the whereabouts of his drinking buddy. “Yeah…Thanks Rye,” he hung up. Ryan echoed his sigh, looking over his cell phone. Strange night, it wasn’t a full moon was it?

“What’s up?” Ray piped in as he stretched his legs across Ryan’s lap.

Ryan shook his head and shrugged. “Pretty sure Gavin is drunk off his ass and Michael left him at Geoff’s to get sober,” he hummed lowly. Michael was probably trying to sleep off a hangover early. Tomorrow was All Hallows’ Eve, a better and more reasonable reason for demons and human’s to get drunk off their asses. No need to ruin the celebration so early.

“Ah,” Ray replied, uninterested in the conversation of alcohol. One thing Ryan enjoyed about Ray was their shared dislike for alcohol or anything fermented. Ray’s interest in the topic seemed to die off there. His eyes remained on their joined hands and slowly made their way up to the vampire’s face. “What do you want to do tomorrow for Halloween?” A much better topic to think about.

“I dunno,” Ryan shrugged with a smile. “Sit at home and make out?” Ray laughed, Ryan thought it was a damn good idea.

“What, you’re not going to the festival tomorrow? It’s suppose to be a rager,” Ray teased, his small frame leaned into Ryan’s larger one, he cupped nicely against the older man.

A content breath left the vampire as he wrapped an arm about the human. “No, I usually don’t go,” he murmured as he nuzzled into Ray’s warm shoulder.

“Really?” Ray scoffed. “The other guys go every year. Do you literally just…sit home and bum around?” As if Ray really had any room to speak. The human did nothing but bum around his house, if not Ryan’s home. Ryan swore Ray should be paler than him with how little the sun seemed to great the human’s skin. “I mean, isn’t it like your guys’ day to go out and party and scare the shit out of people without consequences?”

“No,” Ryan began, tilting his head from side to side as he tried to think of reasons behind his initial decisions of avoiding such celebrations. Really, it was just like any other party. Just with a lot of demons wandering about without their usual glamour and flaunting their true forms. It was a loud celebration, with terrible drunkards and gross booze, and people just being assholes. “I just…never found interest in going,” He shrugs.

“What if I wanna go?” Ray smirked and rose his brows suggestively. _Oh no. Nope! That was not happening. Absolutely not_. It wasn’t like Human’s weren’t allowed to go. They were more than free to go! It was a joined celebration, simply dominated by the growing population of demons surfacing on the upper world. “I haven’t been either. I’d be fun to like, see it at least. Maybe we can find like, fuckin’ blood candy or something.” Ray’s expression became progressively sweeter as he looked at his lover, his arms moving to wrap about the Vampire’s neck as he gave the undead man a wide, dark, puppy dog eyed look. “Please Rye.”

Ryan met the other’s look with an icy blue squint, his lips pressed firmly together as he summoned the will to reject such an adorable and begging expression. Yet the longer he stared at such a happy curve of lips and eyes, Ryan found that refusal and futile. “You’re a little shit,” He sighed. “Fine.”

A large and pleased grin spread over Ray’s lips. Another battle won. Team alive: 5 points. Team dead: -2 for poor sportsmanship. “Thanks Rye bread, it’ll be fun! And like, we can laugh at wasted assholes and eat candy. I bet some idiot’s gonna get so hammered he’s gonna thinks he’s a fairy or something. Like Jack last year during the Christmas party,” Ray nearly burst into laughter simply remembering the sight. And what a sight it was to behold, a large werewolf, red faced, swearing to everyone that he was the tiniest fairy, and would bet everything that he could sit gingerly upon the Christmas tree star.

Ryan had to admit, that would be quite the hilarious sight. “Alright. I only want to stay till midnight though,” He said with concern tugging at his eyebrows. Midnight to three a.m. was the prime time for all demons and mystical creatures alike. Spirits grew stronger, and ghouls were at the best of their worse. Their powers only heightened on a night like Halloween. Ryan didn’t want to think about some asshole getting the wrong idea with Ray at such a time, especially if Ryan couldn’t get to him. People were assholes, devilish ghouls or not, and Ryan wasn't going to put up with such shit.

“Yeah, yeah sure,” Ray tossed a hand through the air. “Nothin’ bad is gonna happen Rye, it’ll be fun!” The younger protested again, his arms unlatched from around Ryan’s neck to reach for the laptop.

“Yeah,” Ryan echoed softly. “It’ll be fun.”

 

Screams filled the air. Cackles and howls echoed in song as the streets filled with bodies of every type. Creatures big, small, hairy, scaly or soaked in slime celebrated a night of full form and trickery. Ryan’s shoulders tensed as he walked down the street lined with stalls selling food and trinkets of pumpkins and skeleton heads. Subconsciously his eyes flicked to Ray every other moment, ensuring the human was by his side. He was sure that if they separated in this crowd they’d never find each other again.

Dark brown irises caught Ryan’s blue frequently glancing ones. Ray rose a brow. “Relax man,” he scoffed. “It’s supposed to be like, party time for you guys.” _Yeah, party time._ Despite this, the vampire continued to feel uneasy about being in such a large crowd of rambunctious creatures of the night whooping and drinking to their hearts content. “The guys just texted, they’re by a stall selling pumpkin pastries. Let’s go!” Ray seemed to figure out that if he wanted Ryan to go anywhere, he would have to drag the man. The human grasped Ryan’s hand and tugged him along through the bustling crowd.

The group of three stood beside a stall next to a happily chirping woman, dishing out pumpkin pastry after pastry. It was no surprise that Jack and Gavin looked no different than they did in their daily life. Geoff on the other hand, sported a large pair of bull horns. Only part of his glamour slipping. Made sense, who really wanted to deal with the awkwardness of walking on two hooved feet? “Hey guys,” Geoff greeted, his hand waved as the other remained occupied with a bottle of beer. “Happy Halloween!”

Ryan waved in return, feigning a smile as he joined their circle. One swipe of his eyes and there was definitely something wrong. “We’re missing one. Where’s Michael?” He asked curiously, blinking at Jack and Geoff who shared a brief look at Gavin. The English man turned his back to both of them, his attention fully on Ray now. “What’s got the shadow hopper in a mood?”

A heavy sigh fell from Geoff’s nose. “We don’t know where he is,” he shook his head. “Haven’t heard a word.” Strange, Michael wouldn’t just fall off the face of the earth, especially today.

“Have you checked his house? Like, do you think he’s gone missing completely? Do we need to call the police?” Ryan tried to reason, they were far to calm about the fact that one member of their little crew was absent.

“Oh, someone called the police, trust me,” Geoff rolled his eyes and looked to Gavin, who puffed and bristled at the Minotaur. “They said they’d keep an eye out, but we should wait till after tonight to really panic. But really, this is fucking Michael, and it’s fucking Halloween. When’s the best time for the little devil to pull a prank on us all but tonight, eh?” He waved his hand nonchalantly. “I bet the little shit slipped out last night cackling, thinking that he’d get us all riled up by disappearing, then scare the living shit out of us tonight. But that’s not gonna happen!” Geoff pointed a finger at the vampire. “Tonight, we’re gonna scare him!”

_Sure we are_ , Ryan thought with a humored look. He was positive after two or three more drinks Geoff wasn’t going to be doing anything but stumble his way home with Jack. “I wish you the best of luck to that,” Ryan saluted halfheartedly.

Geoff rose his drink to Ryan, his smile spreading into a grin. “Hey, you want a drink or are you still being a pussy and going booze free?” Geoff jutted his thumb over his shoulder, referring to some stall that possibly offered some vampire friendly booze.

“Naw,” Ryan’s nose crinkled at the thought. He shook his head. “I don’t need a drink. I’m good.”

“Hey, where’d the lads get off too?” Jack intervened. His eyes alert and glancing about the crowd. Ryan spun on his heels, his neck craned to look over the crowd of heads that blocked his view. A spike of panic stabbed at Ryan’s head, his gaze turned from the surrounding stalls in a wide search for the two lads. _Nowhere._

Geoff scoffed, his shoulders shrugged as he took another drink from his nearly empty bottle. “They’ll be fine, they’ve got each other. C’mon gents, let’s go join the festivities.” Ryan was reluctant to go. There wasn’t any doubt that Gavin and Ray wouldn’t be fine, he was positive they’d be fine. There were a few humans here and there wandering about the festival, safe and happy. And Ray was with a demon, no one would touch him as long as it’s clear he’s friends with one, yeah? Geoff tugged at Ryan’s sleeve with an annoyed grunt, successfully he dragged Ryan deeper into the sea of monsters.

 

 

The human and shadow hopper wandered off through the crowd. Both sharing smiles as they passed vendors and chuckling goblins that held drinking contests. Ray’s head whipped about in an attempt to catch all of his surroundings.

“You see Michoo yet, Ray?” Gavin asked. His lanky figure slouched and woeful.

“Nope. I don’t think I’d be able to see him with all these people,” Ray muttered, fixing his glasses. The snap and screech of fireworks caused him to jump, his shoulders bumped against Gavin’s as he looked in the direction of booming sound. Something flashed in the corner of his eye, a quick, horned figure slipped into an alley. “Michael?” Ray asked out loud. His feet moved before he could determine who the figure was.

Gavin hummed curiously, a soft squawk passed his lips as he watched Ray wander away from him. “Ray! Wait up, Ray!” the shadow hopper stumbled after him.

The alley was narrow. The sound of festivities muffled by the brick walls. Ray squinted through the dim light for a curly head with horns. There didn’t seem to be anyone down this long hall. The figure vanished, like smoke in a thick mist. It was the sharp clamp upon his shoulders that made Ray painfully aware of how wrong, and how not alone he was truly was.

The figure pushed him to the ground. Ray thrashed and kicked his limbs up at them. He snarled and shouted as more figures who wore plastic masks mocking those worn by trick-or-treaters held him down. Ray wished he had some sense to keep his mouth shut, and the strength to take on what seemed to be five grown men. They yelled back, their voices nothing but ringing white noise in Ray’s ears as he ruthlessly swung a fist at one, only to receive a swift kick to his side.

“Ray!” Gavin squawked. Ray twisted his head to look at the alarmed man. He stood in a conflicted pose, ready to run yet prepared toss a punch at any moment.

“Fucking get the guys!” Ray yelled back. Gavin stared back with wide green eyes. Without a word his body began to discolor into a black matter and dripped to the floor like thick goop till the English man had resulted into a black, thin puddle on the ground. The mass scampered across the asphalt and away from Ray’s view in moments.

Ray’s head snapped back to the masked figures about him. One of the five began to speak in a booming tone in a tongue uncomprehend by Ray. “Shut the fuck up and let me go!” He fought again. He didn’t need a fucking speech on how they were going to kick his ass. The figure finished his garbled words, and materialized a bottle filled with deep crimson. “The fuck is that?”

He immediately regretted opening his mouth. The figure uncorked the bottled, his hand swooped down to Ray to tilt the bottle’s lip over the lad's mouth. Ray gasped and chocked on what entered his mouth. He coughed violently and clamped his mouth shut. The fluid was thick, and tasted heavily of copper on his tongue. _Oh god,_ he panicked. _Is this… is this blood?!_

 

 

He didn’t like this. It was already after one in the morning. Ryan honestly wanted to go home long ago. Not that the company of Geoff and Jack wasn’t enjoyable. They were great. Some of the most hilarious and caring people he knew. Yet that didn’t placate the stirring uneasiness in his gut. “I think I’m going to go look for Gavin and Ray,” He finally spoke, interrupting one of many stories Geoff’s told about when he was in the army.

“Ryan, can you just calm your nuts for a while?” Geoff huffed. “The boys are fine! We told you!” Ryan gave him a pointed look. Things didn’t feel fine. Not at all. He opened his mouth, doing his best not to snarl at the Minotaur as he began to protest against his thoughts. Yet a scrambling shadow at his feet silenced him.

The mass began to take form, slowly a limb reached out, and then a head, gaining colouration till Gavin was a full person again. “Ray’s in trouble!” He shouted at them, his arms flailed through the air. It didn’t take more than that for the three to spring into a mad dash, pushing Gavin to lead their way.

 

They found the ally in minutes. The masked figures all turned to them and scattered into the darkness at the end of the narrow passage. Ryan pushed everyone away, and knelt quickly by Ray’s side. The lad’s body trembled and shook. His chest heaved as he coughed violently, dark liquid spurting past his lips with each choked breath. Ryan carefully held Ray, his voice gentle yet firm as he tried to calm Ray down. Yet the further he watched, the more he recognized Ray’s violent reaction. Ray’s eyes were wide and black, slowly losing the spark of life with each passing second.

“Geoff call the fucking police!” Jack bellowed at the Minotaur. Geoff stood stiff, his breath caught at the sight. “Call the ambulance you asshole!”

“Don’t,” Ryan murmured loud enough for the werewolf to hear. “There’s nothing they can do.” His hand rested on Ray’s cheek, his warmth slowly faded with each second. His labored breath quelled till there was none. His lungs emptied in a single sigh.

Ryan looked up from the man in his arms. His icy eyes filled with remorse. “There’s nothing the hospital can do for vampirism.”


	2. Life after Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's blood and people being vampires and then going to the police. If you're squeamish in any way, this is not the chapter for you.

Geoff opened the door for Ryan to enter. He held Ray curled against his chest, wrapped in his coat to preserve what warmth the lifeless body still had left. The three followed him in, Gavin’s head bowed lowly while Geoff and Jack fretted over Ryan and the lad in his arms.

“You guys should really just go,” Ryan tried gently. “Look, Ray is going to wake up in a few hours and he’s going to be in panic. Not only that, but he’s also going to have to feed.” Nothing good would come from the three bustling about the house with raised voices of concern towards a distressed Ray. Ryan could already see the younger having a panic attack just by Geoff’s intense fatherly behavior.

Of course they’d protest. “No way!” Geoff shouted. Ryan made to cover Ray’s deaf ears, as if the Minotaur’s tone could wake the dead. “We’re staying! And we’re calling the damn police too!”

A heavy sigh fell from Ryan’s nose. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now. Yes, they should definitely call the police. But later, when the victim was up and awake and calm. “Geoff, please. I know you want to help. I know you’re scared, I am too. But there’s really nothing you can do to help right now. Calling the police won’t help us or Ray right now. We’ll need Ray for the account anyways,” He sighed. “Just…Let me deal with Ray. I’m going to have to help him when he wakes up, and I really don’t think any of you want to be around a hungry fledgling vampire,” Ryan looked at each of them pointedly.

Jack made a grunt of agreement. “He’s right Geoff,” He tried to persuade the fuming bull. “We’ll check on him tomorrow,” Golden eyes moved to Ryan in search of his confirmed nod. He nodded back. “Take care of Ray, Ryan,” he added in a softer tone as his eyes moved to the limp body of Ray. Jack had to physically move Geoff out of the house and pushed him through the door. Gavin followed slowly. He stopped in the door way, his eyes lingered on the two with a guilt lock in his eyes as he finally made to close the door.

Ryan sighed, and made his way to the bed room. He placed Ray gingerly on the bed, his jacket left as a make shift blanket for the resting body. The vampire placed his ear against Ray’s chest, he held his own breath as he checked for a thumping heart. There was none. He had some time to kill then.

What was he going to say when Ray wakes up? _Surprise! You’re undead and a vampire! Happy unlife!_ Fuck no! Ryan ran a hand through his hair blond hair. He wandered over to the kitchen to retrieved a bag of frozen blood from the freezer, placing it in a bowl to thaw.  He’d have to convince Ray to feed. One way or another. He doubted he could get Ray to feed from him, though that was recommended for fledgling vampires. Hell, having him drink any blood at all was a fucking stretch. Ryan sighed, taking a towel and running it under hot water from the sink.

When he entered the room Ray was still asleep. Ryan sat on the edge of the bed, his hand brushing against the lad’s neck to feel for a pulse. Still no heartbeat. Gingerly, Ryan used the soaked, warm wash cloth to clean the crimson from Ray’s chin and lips. The sight brought a stirring panic in the pit of his stomach. Simply Ray, laying lifeless upon his bed was a startling and heart wrenching sight. Ryan pulled the cloth away from Ray’s face, replacing it with a gently hand. He brushed the pad of his thumb over Ray’s cool cheek, and ran his fingers through the man’s thick dark hair.

Ray’s began to stir. His first breath came in a gentle gasp. Dark eyes blinked open to focus on Ryan with a look close to scathing. Ryan feigned a smile, he was use to this look. He received it often on the weekends when he got out of bed early in the morning. However, this time that grumpy look became confused. Ray’s eyes blinked furiously as he looked about. “Rye, your house is fucking cold,” He grumbled. His hands reached up to Ryan, holding on to him to help hoist himself into a sitting position.

Ryan nodded, knowing all too well the sensations Ray endured suddenly. Ryan wrapped his arms around Ray’s shoulders. The lad clung to him in an attempt to leech some warmth from the man. “I’m sorry,” Ryan murmured. His mouth felt dry. The taste upon his tongue bitter as he worked to figure out his words. _Congrats_ and _Happy undead_ weren’t fitting. But he needed to say something. “Ray—“

“The fuck happened last night?” Ray held his head between his hands. “My head is fuckin’ throbbing!”

“Ray…”

“Did like, someone slip me a fucking drug? Or like, did I drink some fucking demon gruel? Why the fuck is everything so loud now—“

“Ray!” Ryan said firmly. Ray’s head snapped to the older man. Brown eyes blinked in surprise at the tone. Ryan sighed, gnawing at his lips as he thought. “Last night, a group of people…They did…to you... You’re—“A frustrated sound grumbled in his throat. “You’re a vampire, Ray.”

There was silence. Not even the sound of breath could be heard, or was it because neither of them were exactly breathing right now? Ray slowly moved his eyes away from Ryan, down to his hands. His palms faced him, as if he could tell the difference just from his skin. “Huh…” He choked. “Funny…I don’t look like I’m sparkling.”

Of course Ray would use humor, though his wide, strained eyes and frowned lips were far from humorous. “I thought, you know, you had to be bitten or something,” He continued. Ryan pulled him close to his side. He pressed a kiss, firm and full of sympathy to the dark and curled hair upon Ray’s head. “I didn’t think that just drinking fucking nasty ass shit would do it—“ His voice cracked, and his body leaned heavily against Ryan’s frame. His body trembled with his silent sobs.

There was nothing to say. No amount of words that could make Ray feel better. Ryan tried to think back to the evening that he woke up with the revelation of what he had become so many years ago.  Unlike Ray, when Ryan awoke he was surrounded by a covenant. Not that that was any more comforting than a lover’s arms. It was a rather shitty situation really.

They sat that way for a while, till Ryan repositioned them to lay on the bed, still above the covers with Ray curled tightly by his side. The smaller man’s hand fisted at his T shirt. Ray's shivering body eventually quelled, and Ryan was certain the younger had fallen asleep again. What astonished Ryan the most, was the lack of denial from Ray. Most people who awaken to be told they were suddenly an undead creature of the night would certainly protest, and insist they were being told a terrible joke. A quick glance into a mirror would cancel such thoughts. But not Ray, the fledgling came to terms all to quickly with what he was told. He asked no questions, demanded no evidence. Perhaps he could feel just how different he was. Ray was smart, he knew himself well. The moment he woke up in his shared room with Ryan instead of a hospital bed was the first clue that something was terribly wrong.

“Hey Rye,” the voice was so meek, barely a whisper. Ray shifted, his head tilted to look up at the other. He blinked his exhausted eyes, his lips heavy as he thought about his next words. “What do I do now?” This was a difficult process for Ray. Ryan knew well how the younger held pride in being independent. He would march off on his own in any situation if it benefitted him. He wasn’t afraid to improvise. Except for now, in this fragile stage of no longer being the living creature he was for all his life. He was an entirely new monster, and he was lost.

A sigh fell from Ryan’s nose. He chewed on his lower lip as he attempted to think of how to neatly put his suggestion. “Well, you should really feed,” _Fuck it._

Ray bolted upright. His eyes large and mouth set in a deep frown. “Like, you don’t mean…” His jaw locked. “Dude, there’s no fucking way,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

Ryan saw this coming. This was the typical reaction. He said something similar when his bearer tried to feed him a corpse for the first time. Ryan propped himself up on his elbows, carefully examining the tense man before him. “Ray,” his tone was stern, yet concerned for his lover. “You need to drink something. Even if it’s a sip, your body is weak. It’s fucking _dead,_ and it needs something to help it function.”

Ray’s shoulders lax slightly as Ryan spoke, though he still opposed the idea. That was fine, there was _some_ progress at least. “You have options,” Ryan began. His head tilted this way and that as he mulled them over in his head. “Fledglings—Ah you, new vampires, typically are supposed to take their first feeding from their bearer. Like they drink some of their blood. Since we don’t have a fucking clue who the hell that is, I will have to be the substitute.”  Ray squinted his eyes at Ryan. The older continued despite the glare. “Or, you can try to ingest what I have available in the fridge, it may be rougher on your system, and first taste is always a bit…meh, rough,” Ryan shrugged, his brows tugged together as he tried to read Ray’s scathing and bitter look.

“Or,” Ray added. “I don’t drink _anything!_ ”

“That is highly unrecommended, Ray.” Ryan shook his head. His hand rose to rub at his forehead and through his hair sandy blond hair. “Ray please, just…” He pressed his lips firmly together as he tried to find a reasonable sentence that didn’t sound worried or frustrated. “You need to feed. Just…Bite into my arm or something!” In all honesty, Ryan was as irate and nervous about all of this as Ray was. He wasn’t positive he could be a substitute for whoever the hell Ray’s bearer was. He wasn’t sure Ray could digest his blood or if that would make him sick. He hoped it would work. Ryan had vague memories of his first month with vampirism and all of the elders who taught him, he swore he was told to feed from multiple of them.

“Fuck no!” Was a reasonable reply from Ray, but still not what Ryan wanted to hear. The lad scurried off the bed and out of the room. God Ryan hoped he wasn’t going to leave the house. “I’m not drinking fucking blood! I’m not going to taste fucking rusty ass copper! Fuck you!” He made for the living room, his form hesitated for a moment as he passed a single mirror in the hallway, the only one Ryan owned, and flinched at the lack of a reflection.

Ryan bolted off the bed. He held out his arms as he swore for a moment that Ray was going to faint at the sight. Ray instead plopped himself on the couch, his body curled into a ball as he stared at black screen of the television.

Ryan observed him silently, carefully, as he sat himself beside Ray. He held a couch’s worth of distance between them. “I know this is hard. I know…It’s terrible. The thought of feeding off of the thing people need to live is fucking horrifying,” Ryan murmured. “But it’s for the best that you do it. Jack, Geoff and Gav are coming by tomorrow to check on you, and a hungry vampire isn’t something they're expecting,” He tried a gentle smile. Ray didn’t look at him, his eyes fell to the floor, his chin rested in his arms. “We’ll figure something out, Ray. But right now, we just need to make sure you don’t jump anyone.”

That earned a light scoff of a laugh from the younger, though he bit it back quickly. He looked warily at Ryan. His eyes flicking from his arm to the elder’s face. “I really just…Fucking drink the shit from your arm?”

“Well, I figured you didn’t want to go directly for the neck,” Ryan shrugged. Ray nodded, no one wanted to go directly for the neck. No sane vampire at least. Ryan scooted closer, clearing his throat as he settled beside him. “Right,” He sighed and looked to the man curled beside him. The younger looked so timid, frightened. “You won’t hurt me. Not in any way. So don’t worry about that.” That was a lie. The bite would hurt, but no permanent damage would occur to Ryan.

Ray nodded, slowly unfolding his limbs. “Alright,” He muttered. Ryan offered him his arm, letting Ray take all the time he needed. A confused and slight look of disgust passed over the fledgling’s face. His nose scrunched and lips pressed firmly together as he took Ryan’s arm in both hands. Deep brown eyes glanced at the blue veins of Ryan’s arm, and quickly to the frozen blue of Ryan's eyes.

What Ryan wanted to tell him to follow his instinct. But that sounded too cheesy, and felt disgusting on his tongue. It was too similar to what his bearers would instructed. Ray, however, caught on, and before Ryan could say anything else of encouragement a pair of fangs had already settled into his flesh. Ryan hissed, and quickly worked to compose himself. His pained sound fell upon deaf ears as every feature on Ray’s face smoothed at the rush of blood upon his tongue.

Ryan turned his gaze to the ceiling. His other hand rested on his lover’s upper back to place gentle touches there, yet ready to pull Ray back at any moment. A soft grunt from Ray caught Ryan’s attention and a turn of his head. The elder watched with a twisted yet tender expression. “Ray…” he tried, with false hope the younger wasn’t too far gone.

It took a gentle tug at the nape of the lad’s neck, and a few sterner calls of his name before he pulled back with a gasp. He was too alert, and startled. He looked to Ryan with fight in his wide eyes. Quickly he brought the sleeve of his hoodie to his mouth to scrub away the excess blood that may have spilled from his lips. Ryan took his arm back, his eyes examining the wound carefully, watching as the injury closed and healed from Ray’s remaining saliva.

“I feel fucking disgusting,” Ray muttered with a shiver.

“I know,” Ryan replied in a whisper. He wrapped his other arm about Ray’s shoulder, and pressed his lips against his temple as he tried to placate the younger man. “But you did it. Thank you, Ray,” he said softly. Ray curled back into a ball, but allowed Ryan to hold him. His hands found their place gripping at Ryan’s shirt as they sat quietly for the rest of the night. Ryan looked over to the clock at some point when the sun had already began to peak over the city. “We should get you back to bed,” He muttered to Ray. There was no response. “The others will be here in a few hours. They want you to go to the police.” Still no reply.

Ryan looked over at the boy, his brows creased with concern. Yet all furrows and creases of worries upon his expression smoothed when he found Ray fast asleep beside him. Ryan smiled for a moment. Gingerly, he moved to lift Ray into his arms and carry him to the room. He pushed the blankets of the comforter aside, cocooning Ray safely beneath the sheets. Ryan sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, his eyes focused on the rise and fall of the lad’s chest as he slept.

There was something off. It wasn’t the fact that his lover was now suddenly a vampire. No it was something more familiar, yet drastically changed. Ryan’s eyes moved to the bed side table and sighed as he spotted a pair glasses, their rims thick and black. Ray didn’t even notice he didn’t need his glasses anymore. Ryan laughed softly at the lack of Ray’s observation of sight, or the gain thereof.

What a terrible fucking night.

 

The police insisted that he speak to another vampire. Ray promised he fed, he promised he wasn’t going to jump anyone. Yet he remained in a single room, speaking to two officers with vampirism and a sketch artist. There was only so much a dumb sketch of a couple of assholes with masks would do. The more Ray spoke to them the further his frustration grew. What was the point of this? The damage was already done. He got got! There was nothing telling the police could change, no hospital or test that could fix what happened to him. They made him take a few tests, and he gave them his hoodie after quickly informing them that Ryan’s blood would be on the hoodie as well. They then took samples from Ryan to confirm these details.

The other’s waited for Ray in the lobby of the police station, they all hopped to their feet and smothered him with concern. Jack was the first to take note of Ray’s discomfort and pulled Geoff and Gavin back by the hems of their shirts. Ray shrunk back as well, his back bumped into Ryan’s front. “Did you guys talk to them about Michael?” He asked slowly. He hoped they’d keep the conversation off of him and his three hour talk with the detectives.

“Yeah,” Geoff sighed heatedly. “They’re doing a search. They’ll get into his apartment this week and see what they can find and will keep up posted on what they can.” Ray nodded. Hopefully Michael’s disappearance wasn’t something insane, like a group of assholes turning human’s into demons, and he just had a crazy family emergency or something and forgot to call about it. Any day now he’d show up, and they’d all yell and be pissed off like living hell, but glad the asshole was alive.

Geoff sighed again, his teal eyes fixated on Ray’s exhausted expression. “How are you doing?”

Ray hummed in reply, his hands shoved into his pockets. _Terrible._ _I hate everything. I bit my boyfriend’s arm last night and it was fucking euphoric and crazy, and then I passed the fuck out. I don’t want to do this, not now not ever._

“I’m fine,” he choked out and tried a slight smile.

Geoff returned the dull smirk, and his gaze fell to the floor. “Alright, we better get going then. It’s been a long day,” He huffed. Ray couldn’t wait to leave, his head nodded furiously as he tugged on Ryan’s jacket. “Make sure you check in with us later!” Geoff called after them. Ray waved quickly, confirming they would.

 

“Are you sure you don’t have any questions?” Ryan asked. His gaze remained fixated on the lad sprawled out on the couch, playing a long game of Left 4 Dead. Best solution to getting rid of aggression was to kill something, yeah? Ryan moved to sit beside him. Ray’s legs lifted for the larger man to sit, then plopped them neatly in his lap. At least the way they acted naturally around each other hadn’t changed.

“Rye, I have a shit ton of questions. But I don’t know what the fuck to ask first,” Ray stated. His eyes remained on the television set.

“Well…Geoff’s gave us a whole week off, so we have time,” Ryan chuckled slightly. Ray’s lips pursed as he tried to organize his thoughts. Ryan watched the screen, his eyes fixated on Ray’s character and the unfathomable amount of headshots the lad gained within a few moments of gameplay. Suddenly, the game went on pause.

“Alright, first question. How often do I need to fucking eat?” Ray asked as he tossed his controller to the side. His hands rested on his chest as his attention moved fully to Ryan.

The older vampire noted that Ray was wearing his glasses again, despite the fact he didn’t need them. “Right now, frequently. Like, the moment you think you’re hungry tell me and we’ll get you something. The older and stronger you get and the more use your body is to feeding off of blood and such the less you’ll need to feed,” Ryan shrugged.

“Should I be sleeping in a coffin?” Ray asked with interest and part humor.

“Ray I own a fucking king size bed, you're still sleeping with me,” Ryan frowned.

“Am I going to be fucking up all night now that I’m like, a creature of the night?”

Ryan shrugged. “Most likely. I had to train myself to sleep at night. So hopefully, since you’ve just become one, it’ll be easy to get you to sleep at night than it was for me after twenty years after being a vampire.”

Ray hummed, his eyes shifting to the ceiling. “And the sun?”

“Ah,” Ryan nodded his head. “I have stuff to help with that. It’s not as bad as books and fiction makes it out to be. It’s really just uncomfortable,” he shrugs. “We’ll give you the strong stuff for protection and then lower the dosage. The strong stuff is a mixture with coconut water so we can consume it properly, and the other stuff is a pill—“

“Coconut water?” Ray asked puzzled.

“Yeah, coconut water can be used as a temporary substitute for blood, it’s pretty cool honestly,” Ryan hummed. Ray hummed as well, but not with the same interest Ryan held. It was more of a scheming hum than a _fuck yeah science is so cool_ hum.

There was a long period of silence that passed over them. Ryan watched Ray watch something not existent in their plane of vision. The wheels of mind worked over time. “Hey Rye,” He called softly. “How was turning for you?”

Ryan sighed heavily. He expected this question, just not so soon. He bit his lips together as he processed the details in his head. He already told himself that he would tell this story someday. It only felt fair to do so now. He needed to get the series of events straightened first. The sound of a growl halted Ryan’s thoughts, and he smiled at the bewildered look on Ray’s face. “Let’s get you something to eat first. Then I’ll tell you.” Ray gave a curt nod in agreement.


End file.
